Good times!

If I was looking from the outside at the life of a Christ follower, probably the thing that would intrigue me the most would be the “talking to God” thing.  I mean, why in the world would anyone take a chance at talking to a being that you’ve only been told exists?  You’ve never actually seen God, Marty, so why talk to him and risk being linked in with the wacky crowd?

And if I were to answer myself who is looking outside at myself who is talking to God, what I would say is that I don’t fear the risk of being labeled “wacky” for God.  I do fear misrepresenting God or presenting something I say as “from God” that is not really from God, but I don’t fear being “wacky for God.”

You see, anyone who has ever been anything in regards to the passion they have for something has been labeled as “wacky” some time or another for the object of their affection.  Whether its Heath Ledger taking on the passion of acting, Ernest Hemingway and writing, or Michael Jackson, the king of pop, these people have all been labeled “excessive” for the fields of their passion.

I have a passion for God.  And though I don’t make people drink strange kool aid or tell them a space ship is going to take us all up into heaven if we destroy ourselves together, I do have a strong desire to connect with Him more than I have for making large amounts of money or “living the good life.”  So I talk to Him.

Today there will come a point where I shut my computer off, my music, my phone, and walk away from people, and I talk to only Him.  I don’t ask Him to bring me lots of good things like Santa or to heal every person I know who is deteriorating like I’m some sort of witch doctor, but I just want him to know I’m here and I’d like to know more about Him, and what he wants me to do.  I frequently share with Him some of the great things I believe him to be, and lift Him up as the most important part of my life.

And if that makes me “wacky”, so be it.

Matt Legere.

Yesterday Carie and I made a trip the Texas BBQ Co in Northboro, and connected with Matt Legere and his family.  Matt has a great spirit and heart to connect with people.  So I wanted to share with you three reasons you should get to know Matt.

1.  His Passion
All it takes is a few minutes of conversation to find out that Matt is not your ordinary guy.  He wants more for his life, more for his family, and more from God.  You can hear all that as he talks, and it’s not just good for him, it’s good for me too.  I believe the word for Matt  is contagious, and his passion is contagious.

2.  His stories
Matt told me this amazing story I’d like to share:  He felt God wanted him at one point to share some grocery gift cards with some neighbors in an apt. building.  As he prayed, some apartment numbers rolled through his mind and he wrote them down.  Then he sent those gift cards in the mail to those apartments, just sharing with them that if there was anything he could do for them, please let him know.  A few days late, a lady called him crying and telling him what an incredible encouragement that was and that is exactly what she’d needed that day.  Then Matt said something I’ll never forget.  He said that many people would take that and want to make a “gift card” ministry out of that, but it was just God using him and that’s the way He chose to do it at that time.  I should stop this section by mentioning that Matt didn’t tell me this story so I’d blog about it.

3.  His attitude through tough circumstances
Matt hasn’t had the toughest life in the world, but he’s gone through a lot to be where he is at right now.  He moved his family up here (wife, Heidi, and two sons) without any other family members within a few hours drive of them.  Their reason for moving was to help plant a church in the Framingham area.  Matt has been laid off in the past,  but God has been faithful through everything, Matt says.  And as I talked to him, I realized that there are certain attitudes that succeed through hard times, and then there are other kinds of attitudes.  Matt majors in the former.

So those are my three reasons.

1. Worcester Scary Scavenger Hunt

2. 12 Days of Christmas parties

On this page, I share a layout on what my regular blog writings will be about.  They focus on relationships, something I have a passion to build in myself and others.  Unfortunately, today’s topic was one of which I was not quite ready.  You see, I’m still learning how to build influence.  I think and pray about it all the time:  “How can I begin to influence new people, new friends, in my life?”  Jesus said, “You are the light of the world” but I don’t feel like it a lot of the time.  I feel like there’s a lot more to be done, and I want to be a part of that.  I hope you’ll be a part of that with me as I write and study and learn how to influence people to love God and love people more.  So let’s get to it.  I hope next week I’ll have a great story of how I’m learning the topic of influence in a big way.

Oh boy, I have a lot of work to do.

In this post, I had mentioned that my friend of many years, Dave Huey, is finally taking the plunge and getting married in November.  So in honor of this, I’m writing a series of blog posts sharing my favorite stories about Dave.

Today’s story is more of a quick quip of a boring Friday night.  Dave and I, no doubt desperately trying to figure out what we were going to do on a Friday night with no money and very little gas, decided we were going to steal one of those free newspaper machines you can find outside of many retail stores.  Criteria?  It had to be light, and it had to open and shut closed.  None of those open metal racks – we could get those at Wal Mart.

So we headed to the local dollar store, and found a bona fide “rent a new home” newspaper machine that opened and closed without putting quarters or dimes in.  (this was essential for us, as, once again, we had no money)  That Friday night, we had no dates, no money, and very little gas, but we did have a blast stealthfully placing the machine into our car and…

I did have a newspaper machine in my house!

Thinking of Jesus can be so irritating sometimes. Like in the midst of my heart turning hateful toward my enemies, and His words about loving them, even if they have persecuted me, come rushing into my mind.  For real, that is really irritating.  I was thinking about this a few days ago after I viewed an altercation that came to blows on the basketball court a few days back.  It started normally enough.  Two guys begin mouthing off to one another about a foul or a travel or whether or not Charles Barkley is fat or big-boned, and then it progresses into this full out altercation, complete with balls flying across the room (basket, that is) and fists following shortly after that.  Several guys were more than enough to put a stop to the pugilist fair, but I stayed away as my mind raced to the time I had a brief arguing session with the guy who threw the first punch.

It hadn’t been that long ago, maybe 3 months.  He had just started playing with our group, and apparently he wanted to make a name for himself or something, because it seemed like his mouth aimed at every person he played against.  So I finally decided to stick my words back in his mouth.  Thankfully (as I found out a few days ago) I eventually walked away, and then, as if to pour salt on the wound, I thought of Jesus and those irritating words again:  “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” This is what happened next:

Marty:  Ummm, Jesus, would you mind taking those words out of my mind please?
Jesus:  You should go to Him and apologize.
Marty:  Oh sure, apologize because he has a big mouth, I’ll do that (with a snort).
Jesus:  Have you ever had a big mouth?
Marty:  Every Sunday morning actually, and possibly a few other times, ya know, with my sisters, and maybe a few others times on the basketball court.
Jesus:  So go to him, apologize and Marty, it won’t just help him, it will help you, and the hate you have in your heart right now.
Marty:  But wait, there are people in the world who are just big jerks…
Jesus:  And it’s your personal job to teach them a lesson?
Marty: (walks immediately over to the future Muhammad Ali and apologizes)

Watching the argument take place yesterday, and realizing that after I apologized to said quarreler, we became good acquaintances on our way to friends, I begin to understand that Jesus words are not posted on paper for some uber spiritual, hard to understand reason.  They are there for you and me, so that our hearts stay whole and not ripped to shreds (think Tom Riddle), making future relationships impossible to grow.  They are there because He knows the way the world works, and we don’t.  But still…

It’s irritating sometimes.

For my birthday last Saturday, a few people were generous enough to give me itunes gift cards, so I had the thrill of going music shopping.   I love music shopping, but rarely get a chance to do it these days.  The first step in any of my musical treasure hunts is to think about the good music recommendations of music lovers I respect in the blogging world or friends who have shared with me new music they are listening to, then I comb the itunes, amazonmp3, and Paste websites for music that speaks to me, and by the time I’m finished Iusually have some good songs, and in some rare cases, some good albums (don’t you know that nobody buys albums anymore?).  So in light of all that, here is some of the music I’ve purchased electronically thanks to yours truly turning 34 last Saturday:

Sister Hazel (album) – Release
The Boxer rebellion (MP3) – Soviets
Lady Sovereign(mp3) – Jigsaw
Skillet (mp3) – Monster
Skillet (mp3) – Hero
Third Eye Blind (mp3) – Bonfire
Making April (mp3) – So bad
Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Album) – It’s Blitz
Toby Mac (mp3) – City on our knees

And I still have credit left!  Anything else I should buy?

Good conversations and growth in my relationships with friends seem to happen when I lay aside something of importance that I’m doing or attempting to accomplish and give time to others.  Yesterday I skipped my weekly Monday volleyball game to work on a house project I’m trying to finish by the end of the summer.  When volleyball ended, two friends from church came over (they were sporting their beach vball ‘tudes) and chatted for a bit in an impromptu conversation about God, seminary, evangelism, being missional, and life in general.  This caused my work to not get accomplished, but in the process, something better happened.  By the time Jake and Ben left my house, I was thoroughly encouraged about what God is doing, not only in my life, but in the lives of some of those who are very close to me.  I really need to make a habit of putting away things I’m trying to accomplish more to chat with friends.

Thanks Jake and Ben!

This last week Carie and I went on vacation.  Vacation can either be a time when my relationship with God is strengthened or it is softened.  This depends on whether I decide that life is all about eating a lot and watching movies or whether I can maintain some sort of discipline in my life that helps me to focus on the person He wants me to be while at the same time resting.  I’ve come to prefer to view vacation as more about rest than having fun, though the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

I think I’d give myself a B- in terms of my relationship with God over vacation.  In between GI Joe, Chick Fil-A, and the beach (in the case of the beach, there was some during too), I did have some quality time with Him.  I’m not sure what God would give me in terms of a grade, but I hope I’d pass.  This relationship is the most important one in my life, and I work really hard at it, but sometimes vacation becomes more about me then Him.